VNCC on price control

Published:
14 May 2004

The Viet Nam Cement Corporation (VNCC) said it has had no intention of raising cement prices for the time being. However its Vice Director General Le Van Chung told Viet Nam News Agency that the VNCC reconsiders its pricing policy if the Viet Nam Coal Corporation goes ahead with its decision to increase coal prices in June.

The Viet Nam Coal Corporation announced it will increase coal prices from 369,500 VND per tonne to 435,000 VND from June 1st, the fifth price rise in the last five years. Chung suggested the increase in coal prices would affect not only the cement industry but other key industries, including electricity, steel and fertilisers, as coal is the main source of energy in their production process.

Apart from asking the Government to consider the coal industry’s decision, the cement industry plans to use more locally-made equipment to reduce costs to make the product more competitive. Nguyen Chi Sang, head of the Industry Ministry’s Institute for Engineering Research, estimated that 70 percent of the equipment in use at cement factories could have been made locally. The use of locally-made equipment has become a focus of the Government’s 2000-2010 master plan for the development of Viet Nam’s mechanical engineering industries.The Government has recently approved four cement plant projects for the northern provinces of Son La, Yen Bai and Phu Tho. These plants will have between 50-80 per cent of their equipment and facilities made in Viet Nam, it was noted.